Andreina De Sousa Abreu, recognized to her associates and private coaching shoppers as merely “Reina De Sousa,” has misplaced an unbelievable 238 kilos of bodyfat in a little bit over one yr, taking place from a U.Okay. gown dimension 26 to a sculpted dimension 8. It’s a story that begins within the bleakest of locations, however ends with a ray of hope for anybody battling to the be the very best model of themselves. Whereas the speculation behind losing a few pounds is solely to minimize your energy and burn extra gas than you eat, the method of doing so is a posh journey that goes far past willpower and could be decided by an array of psychological obstacles.
Right here, Reina De Sousa opens as much as M&F in a frank dialogue of what led to her preliminary weight achieve, how she took again management, and why being wholesome has given her a brand new lease of life.
Now 36, and working efficiently as a private coach in Twickenham, London, De Sousa (who’s initially from Caracas, Venezuela) explains that her world was turned the wrong way up in 2014. “I used to be raped by my landlord and his workers, and this trauma led me to show to meals for emotional help,” she shares bravely. “It’s not one thing I’ll really heal from till I do know justice has been served. I used to be failed by the police, so I suffered in silence till I spoke out.”
Turning to meals as a solution to deal along with her trauma, De Sousa, who had beforehand taught Zumba and Pilates, and had previously been of wholesome weight, was now on a mission to finish her life and block out her ache by neglecting her well being. Fried meals and an abundance to takeaway grew to become the norm till De Sousa lastly satisfied herself that the one solution to rebuild her relationship along with her youngsters and forestall untimely loss of life was to scale back her weight and withstand the psychological well being points that have been taking maintain. Weighing in extra of 375 kilos, medical doctors offered a grim outlook, however decided to show issues round, she opted to have a gastric sleeve. Gastric sleeves are actually probably the most frequent types of surgical procedure to assist weight reduction. The operation entails stapling off a bit of the abdomen to limit the variety of energy that may be absorbed by the physique. The bodily fixes have been only the start, nevertheless.
Reina De Sousa needed to be taught to like herself earlier than she might deal with herself
“It took me years to heal from my trauma, and even now I’m not totally healed, however as a consequence of my weight achieve I developed many well being scares and when the physician mentioned that if I carried on this fashion, I’d not be round for my children for very lengthy, that gave me the ultimate push,” she shares. “However even with a gastric sleeve this was not a magical course of the place I’d drop extra pounds and all of a sudden achieve motivation to go the health club. This was a battle each mentally and bodily. I needed to learn to feed my physique with good meals. I needed to learn to heal my thoughts with form phrases. I needed to be taught to like myself as an individual, as a mom, as a girl.
She added: I realized to simply accept that my rape was not attributable to me. I realized to forgive myself, and it was at this level that I began making the best selections with meals, life, and health. Lately, I made a decision that I need to compete on stage with PURE Elite and I consider this was the most important push into my new health journey. I now have knowledgeable physique constructing coach. I eat 7-8 occasions a day.”
De Sousa tells M&F that she units her alarm to sound each three hours in order that she will eat, and by staying full, the survivor isn’t tempted to snack on something that may derail her progress.
Lately, the favored private coach, who’s a certified Les Mills Physique Fight teacher, in addition to educating Zumba and being licensed as a Nutritionist with the PT Academy, is a powerful and highly effective girl, being seen and sponsored by big manufacturers like MyProtein. Nonetheless, losing a few pounds was not a linear course of. “I’m not excellent… I’m human,” says De Sousa. “And so, it wasn’t till I realized to have a great relationship with meals that I finished slipping again into previous habits. I now stroll round with my notes app pinned to my residence display screen, as a result of I do know I get one cheat meal with dessert as soon as per week and after I get a sudden yearning for one thing I do know that’s going to be my cheat meal. I created stability in my life. Folks like me, who come from emotional consuming backgrounds, want routine in our lives to perform appropriately. With out routine there is no such thing as a self-discipline and with out self-discipline there is no such thing as a consistency. I rely closely on my routine not only for my well being however for my mentality. I want routine in place to maintain going ahead and my dedication to this routine is what received me right here as we speak.”
Onerous work pays off in terms of losing a few pounds
“My coaching is generally hypertrophy (growing the muscle tissues) from Monday to Thursday,” explains De Sousa. “I alternate higher physique and decrease physique days and have a set plan. Saturdays and Sundays are my heavy lifting days (to develop power). I can now squat over 400 kilos (200 kilograms) and leg press over 530 kilos (240 kilograms).
“I gained’t lie, it was exhausting to start out off with. I wished to surrender from day one within the health club, however I pushed previous that detrimental voice in my head,” she says. “Fitness center nervousness is actual and a major difficulty by itself. I had ladies giggle at my weight, giggle at how I labored out, giggle at me doing cardio… you identify it, I went by it. I used all of it as ammunition to gas my starvation for this new physique. With my cardio, after I began, I used to be struggling to complete seven minutes on a treadmill however now I run for a straight 120 minutes and I really feel nice. I hate it, don’t get me flawed (laughs), however I do it as a result of it’s a part of my plan. My joints not harm. My knees and ankles would get the worst of it (bearing the surplus weight), however now I can stroll and run and soar with no ache. My sciatica has by no means come again, and to say I really feel liberated from physique struggles doesn’t go far sufficient to clarify how grateful I’m for my health journey.”
Lately, De Sousa shuns takeaways in favor of meals reminiscent of white fish with lemon and parsley, accomplished by a facet of turmeric rice with garlic. Lean beef is one other favourite. In time, De Sousa felt in a position to resume her profession as a health coach and spent lockdown time properly, finding out to additional her {qualifications}. She now has native shoppers and internet-based shoppers from all all over the world.
Reina De Sousa’s recommendation for anybody eager to take again management of their weight
“Don’t evaluate your ‘Stage 1’ to another person’s ‘Stage 20’,” she says. “All of us have to start out from the underside and work our approach up. As exhausting as that’s to listen to, exhausting work pays off in the long term. You want to go into this with a plan, with a routine. Shedding fats will solely occur by a calorie deficit and by watching what you eat after which you will note your physique fats mass go down. By doing train with a set plan, you will note muscle definition. You didn’t achieve all that weight in a single day so that you gained’t lose it in a single day.”
A wholesome life-style has positively impacted household life for Reina De Sousa
“My daughter has began going to the health club with me,” she says. “To be your children’ inspiration is one other purpose by itself, to know they appear as much as me and need to comply with my footsteps… I can’t even describe how that feels! I believe diet stability in youngsters’s’ lives is essential and it has began to provide them the best outlook on what to eat and when to eat it. My son has been extra enthusiastic about this essentially the most as he’s seeing his personal weight drop by wholesome meal plans alone, they usually each actually benefit from the cookies I make with the MyProtein whey powder. I additionally love their Salted Caramel Cookies!
“We’re in a position to go on lengthy walks, play soccer, or experience the scooter whereas earlier than, a brief stroll to the retailers would really feel like I had simply run a marathon. We’re in a position to go sight-seeing, stroll the canine, play extra video games. Now we have change into nearer as a household, and it’s all because of my weight reduction success.”
You don’t should go in your health journey alone
Having hit a milestone of 12,000 followers on TikTok because of sharing her story, many individuals have been impressed to take again management of their very own lives too. For this sturdy and unbiased girl, discovering a help community both with associates, household, or professionals is crucial. “Talk about your traumas,” implores De Sousa. “There isn’t any competitors. No trauma is bigger than another person’s, and all of us have our personal battles to battle. To talk up takes braveness. I consider that therapeutic mentally ought to be a precedence in your health journey. Restoration is a course of and it takes time and it takes persistence.”
